Fort Plan Faces Last Obstacle

Congressional Action May End Long Dispute

Expectant Lake County officials will keep a close eye on the U.S. House of Representatives Friday when it takes up a bill that could finally settle the fate of land at Ft. Sheridan.

The legislation is critical to breaking a logjam that has stalled talks between the U.S. Army and a local planning committee working to develop a reuse plan for the North Shore landmark, say county officials.

The Ft. Sheridan agreement was orchestrated earlier this week by U.S. Rep. John Porter (R-Ill.), who met with high-ranking Army officials in an effort to resolve differences. The settlement has been agreed to by Army officials and other legislators, Porter said.

Nonetheless, it won't be official until it has passed both houses of Congress, a process that is likely to take several days.

"The (legislation) is certainly very good, assuming that it goes through, of course," said Highland Park City Councilman Peter Koukos, a member of the Ft. Sheridan Joint Planning Committee. The committee also includes representatives from Highwood, Lake Forest and Lake County.

"Of course, the cynic that I have become (in the course of working on Ft. Sheridan) says it isn't done until it's done and signed by the president," Koukos said.

The agreement between federal legislators and the Army is an amendment to a military appropriations bill. It requires the Army to donate 290 acres of open space to the Lake County Forest Preserve District. It also authorizes the Army to sell the base's 110-acre historic district to the planning committee.

Finally, the Forest Preserve District would maintain the post's cemetery for the Army in perpetuity.

In exchange for these concessions, the Army will receive from Congress $14 million for construction of an Army museum near the Pentagon. The secretary of the Army also has the right to determine the fair market value of the base's historic district and to set any other conditions that may be necessary to protect U.S. interests.

"I am extremely pleased to see things moving forward in this way," said Joyce O'Keefe, policy director for the Openlands Project, a Chicago-based organization that has lobbied for protection of the base's open space.

"We simply were not getting anywhere in a non-legislative process," O'Keefe said. "It is that lack of public accountability (by the Army) that has been so upsetting."

Indeed, for more than six years since Congress ordered the Army to give up Ft. Sheridan, relations with the Army have rarely gone smoothly. And in recent weeks, some planning committee members had despaired of reaching an agreement with the Army over what to do with 400 acres of land at the 700-acre base that the Army abandoned two years ago. (The base's other 300 acres are occupied by other military divisions.)

Recent statements from high-ranking Army officials implied they were only interested in selling the base's prime lakefront land to the highest bidder, regardless of the wishes of the local communities. Federal policy dictates that local needs take priority.

The reuse plan for Ft. Sheridan, which was created by the planning committee, has two primary goals. The first is that the 290 acres of open space, including an 18-hole golf course, be owned by the Forest Preserve District. The second is that the committee control development of the landmark district into an upscale community in such a way that the historical character is preserved.

Last winter, the Army agreed to that plan, but in recent weeks Army decision-makers said they wanted to "keep their options open," and they decided to hang onto the open space in case a developer wanted to buy it.

They also reversed earlier statements and decided that the Army would not turn over any of the historic district to the committee. Committee members believe that if they can own the land, they can better control development.